Percy Jackson and the Challenges
by Felicity Dream
Summary: Drabbles, one-shots, etc. of various nature for the PJO fandom to expand creativity (usually but always involving Percy). Second up (NEW): the Unloved Demigods: Greek Edition Challenge! Pairing Percy with an unusual demigod, from the original series.
1. Olympian Challenge

_**Olympian Challenge (For Percy Jackson and the Olympians)**_

**Pairings:** Zeus/Percy  
**Challenge: **Just this once, he'll let the boy be in the air. Or –There is a reason why the boy bothers him and he can't bring himself to get along with him. It doesn't have anything to do with his brother breaking their oath or that the boy is probably the prophecy child.  
**Word Prompts: **Fear or Illicit  
**Song Prompts: **Angels by Within Temptation  
**TV/Book/Movie Prompts: **Kill Bill(movie)/Spirited Away(movie)

**Pairings: **Poseidon/Percy  
**Challenge: **He doesn't want his son with anyone. No one is good enough for him. Not even himself. But he'd rather have his son with him than anyone else.  
**Word Prompts: **Strangers or Forsaken  
**Song Prompts: **Numb by Linkin Park or Sink or Swim by Tyrone Wells or Apologize by One Republic  
**TV/Book/Movie Prompts: **Poseidon(m)/Titanic(m)/Artemis Fowl(book)

**Pairings: **Hephaestus/Percy  
**Challenge: **His wife has many lovers, but he does not stay faithful to her either. And they're both fine with the set up.  
**Word Prompts: **Grandiose or Frail  
**Song Prompts: **Outside by Staind  
**TV/Book/Movie Prompts: **Beauty and the Beast(any variation)

**Pairings: **Ares/Percy  
**Challenge: **He is war. The adrenaline surges in him for all time. But he actually slows him down, and for once he lives in the moment.  
**Word Prompts: **Functional or Sanguine  
**Song Prompts: **Bad Romance by Lady Gaga  
**TV/Book/Movie Prompts: **Firefly(TV)/Gravitation(anime)/Fushigi Yugi(a)/Weiss Kreuz(a)

**Pairings: **Apollo/Percy  
**Challenge: **He tries to formulate the words, but nothing comes out. Not even something idiotic. For once, he's speechless –but he's okay with it.  
**Word Prompts: **Critical or Fore-sighted  
**Song Prompts: **Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen  
**TV/Book/Movie Prompts: **Twilight(b)/Glee(TV)/Phantom of the Opera(any variation)/The Pianist(m)

**Pairings: **Hermes/Percy  
**Challenge: **He hadn't meant to, but he stole him away from everyone. But he doesn't care. He's selfish like that.  
**Word Prompts: **Anguish or Evasive  
**Song Prompts: **She Will Be Loved by Maroon 5  
**TV/Book/Movie Prompts: **D.N. Angel(a)/The Fast and the Furious(m)/Ocean's Eleven (or 12 or 13)(m)/Cars(m)

**Pairings: **Dionysus/Percy  
**Challenge: **He refuses to remember his name. He refuses to validate his existence. Because then he'll get arrogant and leave for better stars in the sky.  
**Word Prompts: **Wine or Strawberries  
**Song Prompts: **Waking Up in Vegas by Katy Perry  
**TV/Book/Movie Prompts: **21(m)/Picture of Dorian Gray(b)

**Pairings: **Hades/Percy  
**Challenge: **His wife gave him a gift. In exchange for more time above, he now has a bit of the sea in his realm.  
**Word Prompts: **Lonely or Looking-Glass  
**Song Prompts: **Paint It Black by The Rolling Stones  
**TV/Book/Movie Prompts: **Labyrinth(m)/Alice 2009(syfy) (TVm)

**Pairings: **Hera/Percy  
**Challenge: **Her husband breaks his vows to her over and over. She breaks them only once.  
**Word Prompts: **Overzealous or Fragmented  
**Song Prompts: **Lips of Angel by Hinder  
**TV/Book/Movie Prompts: **Lord of the Rings(b)/Harry Potter(b)

**Pairings: **Demeter/Percy  
**Challenge: **When her daughter is with that fiend, he is there listening to her rant about the wrongness of the situation. Even though he likes the fiend, he never turns away when she cries about the loss of her daughter.  
**Word Prompts: **Besotted or Directionless  
**Song Prompts: **Hey Delilah by Plain White T's  
**TV/Book/Movie Prompts: **Star Wars(m)

**Pairings: **Athena/Percy  
**Challenge: **The sins of the father are visited upon him. But there is more to her animosity than grudges. Or –She loves her daughter, but she cannot stand the hold she has over him.  
**Word Prompts: **Potent or Jealousy  
**Song Prompts: **Please Don't Leave Me by Pink  
**TV/Book/Movie Prompts: **Troy(m)/Romeo and Juliet(b)

**Pairings: **Aphrodite/Percy  
**Challenge: **She's not used to being jealous. But he's hers and she doesn't want to share.  
**Word Prompts: **Satiated or Idolized  
**Song Prompts: **Mr. Brightside by The Killers  
**TV/Book/Movie Prompts: **Chocolat(m)/ Girl Interrupted(b/m)

**Pairings: **Artemis/Percy  
**Challenge: **She's the Huntress of Huntresses. The Maiden Goddess never to lose her chastity. But in her mind, she breaks her vow again and again.  
**Word Prompts: **Possessed or Possessive  
**Song Prompts: **Make Me Bad by Korn  
**TV/Book/Movie Prompts: **Lolita(m)/Secret Garden(b/m)/Alice in Wonderland(b/m)

**Pairings: **Hestia/Percy  
**Challenge: **The fire burns. Sometimes she gets tired of making it burn. But he lights her with passion and she forgets about that.  
**Word Prompts: **Glamorized or Eager  
**Song Prompts: **Uprising by the Muse  
**TV/Book/Movie Prompts: **Dark Angel(TV)

**Pairings: **Persephone/Percy  
**Challenge: **Movie-verse: She wants him. Because she's never had a hero quite like him. Or –He is the only one her husband approves of. Her husband has a soft spot for him. And she is more than content with the fact.  
**Word Prompts: **Enchanted or Emancipated  
**Song Prompts: **Stairway to Heaven by Led Zepplin  
**TV/Book/Movie Prompts: **The Bachelor(TV)/Hell Girl(a)

**Pairings: **_BONUS: Any of the above pairings…  
_**Challenge: **Being immortal is not as glamorous when he's not. Being divine doesn't make one divine, not in the same way he is. Living in paradise isn't paradise if he's not in it. Because he can make anyone want to be human.  
**Word Prompts: **Choice of: Humbled or Idealistic or Hoodwinked or Idiosyncratic  
**Song Prompts: **One Night Stand by Hinder  
**TV/Book/Movie Prompts: **Battlestar Galatica: 2003(TV)

You can choose **any **of the prompts, and **more than one **if you want. Just **PM me **which **pairing and which challenge/prompt you want to do,** and then start writing! There's no end date to try any of these, but finished fics are to be posted by **April 30th.** **PM me the links to your finished fics.** I'll put them all together in a community. Please have a **minimum of 2000 words**, so we can all enjoy a full-fledged fic.

SPREAD THE WORD!!


	2. Olympian: Challenge Prompts

**Olympian Challenge: Challenge Prompts**

**Pairings: **_Zeus/Percy_**  
****Challenge: ****Just this once, he'll let the boy be in the air. Or –There is a reason why the boy bothers him and he can't bring himself to get along with him. It doesn't have anything to do with his brother breaking their oath or that the boy is probably the prophecy child.**

Just this once, he'll let the boy be in the air. He's stubborn, he understands that. Perseus did nothing wrong, wasn't the thief after all, but he was one to hold grudges. The boy knows nothing of the air, and has never experienced the skies as he has. His mother has kept him from the blue heavens, so unaware of the danger and of the great pleasures of the sky –of the wind blowing as one soared through it, of the electricity that sparks with fury and desire all at once, alternately, and yet never, not for him. Not until now. And it's now Perseus enjoys the skies without having to fear. It's now that Zeus lets the grudge unfold into something a little more wicked. And it's now when Zeus takes what is and isn't offered, in exchange for freedom in the skies and a fear to be cleansed. The boy is innocent, but Zeus isn't and has never been –and neither has his motives been.

It's not simple. Perseus was a problem that went beyond what everyone thought he was to Zeus. There is a reason why the boy bothers him and he can't bring himself to get along with him. It doesn't have anything to do with his brother breaking their oath or that the boy is probably the prophecy child. It's not a grudge he keeps of a missing Master Bolt, or of a physical symbol of his brother's betrayal. It's Ganymedes all over again. It has been a long time since he's fallen in love with a male, and this was a newer and more different an experience. There is time to be wasted in the meantime, as he waits –for the war, for a grown young man, and for an admittance of what he knows to be true of the confession lingering in his mind. So now he spends his time conspiring various new ways to capture his promising conquest, as he has for all others before but knowing this one was forbidden and that he won't can't _mustn't_ touch, for the moment content with fantasies and might-be's and waiting for a time when he's not caught up in dreams and finally he might grow tired and just act, regardless of any consequences. In the end he wishes and thinks he can keep to fantasies, but knows like the others, this one _especially_ cannot escape him.

**Pairings: **_Poseidon/Percy_  
**Challenge: He doesn't want his son with anyone. No one is good enough for him. Not even himself. But he'd rather have his son with him than anyone else**.

His son has many suitors, many interested in him. Percy isn't sure of himself either, and Poseidon knows that's a dangerous combination. One that will likely lead to his son's disadvantage, as many would seek to use that against Percy. In fact, they would take advantage of him easily and remorselessly. And it _angers _him, in all the right ways and even more –in the wrong ways. He is the angry father, the protective guardian that would do anything to take care of and protect his son. But it is the wrong part of him that speaks louder, that encompasses all else and blocks out reason. It makes him the angry lover, jealous and wrathful. He doesn't want his son with anyone. No one is good enough for him. Not even himself. But he'd rather have his son with him than anyone else. And in the end, he plays the part of father carefully, meticulously and perfectly. Until the day comes when that wrong part grows louder and louder until it is all he hears, and he won't have to play the part of liar anymore because all reason has left him and he finally drops the act.

**Pairings: **_Hephaestus/Percy_  
**Challenge: His wife has many lovers, but he does not stay faithful to her either. And they're both fine with the set up.**

He knows Aphrodite goes around and takes what she wants from other men, Ares her most famous consort. His wife has many lovers, but he does not stay faithful to her either. And they're both fine with the set up. Because Perseus is a whole other league from her, despite her claim of complete irresistibility and unrivaled beauty. He is solely different from her, and Hephaestus more than prefers him to his wife, who sneers and mocks and swims in shallow pools. Perseus, more than anything, doesn't look away from him and in fact stares at him unflinchingly. And that makes him so much more happier than he ever thought he could be.

**Pairings: **_Ares/Percy_  
**Challenge: He is war. The adrenaline surges in him for all time. But he actually slows him down, and for once he lives in the moment.**

The first time he laid eyes on him, he was just a scrawny little brat that he'd planned to use. And then things become complicated. His attention keeps wandering. He's not focus on battle and war, or even Aphrodite. The brat becomes Perseus and then Percy. And most of all, the need to keep going, the blindness of rage, bloodlust and the call for conflict fades into the background, and all Ares sees is the same scrawny brat, who still irritates and yet drives the urge, the need for the God of War to stop seeing through an angry haze of red all of the time and _see_ and _appreciate_. He is war. The adrenaline surges in him for all time. But he actually slows him down, and for once Ares lives in the moment.

**Pairings: **_Apollo/Percy_  
**Challenge: He tries to formulate the words, but nothing comes out. Not even something idiotic. For once, he's speechless –but he's okay with it.**

And then Percy smiles. It's like a miniature sun to Apollo, who stands in shock and watches incredibly. He tries to formulate the words, but nothing comes out. Not even something idiotic. For once, he's speechless –but he's okay with it. Meaningless haikus, endless dribbles, pointless poems try to force their way out of his mouth, but none of them make it through and he stays without words. For once in his immortal life, rare occasion as this is, he wasn't in any need to say anything at all, but simply appreciate. And he is content.

**Pairings: **_Hermes/Percy_  
**Challenge: He hadn't meant to, but he stole him away from everyone. But he doesn't care. He's selfish like that.**

He sees Percy's connection to everyone. Hades grudgingly is fond of the boy, his son is more than infatuated, and Athena's girl is absolutely smitten. Aphrodite is pleased with his existence; especially with the way Percy draws everyone to him. Ares, disgruntled at the boy's slight against him, doesn't want to admit to his own obsession to the boy. He knows of Calypso, who was desperate to keep Percy there on that island with her forever, and of the mortal girl Rachel, who Percy might and might not like. But Hermes is sure of one thing, of his own connection to him. He hadn't meant to, but he stole him away from everyone. But he doesn't care. He's selfish like that. Especially when his lips are on Percy's softer ones, especially when sea-green eyes shine at him affectionately, and especially as he drags his callous hands through gravity-defying hair that he tugs and pulls on –_especially when he touches, kisses, bites him and **thrusts** into him_. The others watch him in reproach, but he is self-centered and greedy and so much more when it comes to Percy.

**Pairings: **_Dionysus/Percy_  
**Challenge: He refuses to remember his name. He refuses to validate his existence. Because then he'll get arrogant and leave for better stars in the sky.**

Names are powerful. They give power and authority to the owner when one says them. It's why he avoids _his_ name. Dionysus understands the importance of names and never once gives in to the temptation of the brat's name. He won't even think it. He refuses to remember his name. He refuses to validate his existence. Because then he'll get arrogant and leave for better stars in the sky. And he could admit he'd rather prefer keeping the brat there with him, and having him say _Dionysus_ over and over again instead.

**Pairings: **_Hades/Percy_  
**Challenge: His wife gave him a gift. In exchange for more time above, he now has a bit of the sea in his realm.**

The Underworld is barren. So he becomes grateful and actually relieved to see a change. His wife gave him a gift. In exchange for more time above, he now has a bit of the sea in his realm. She can see snow for once, and he sees waters and sea-green eyes, and pink lips that purse in agitation and confusion all the time, but is so incredibly adorable. The sea has gravity-defying hair, even though there is no gravity in his realm. Not really. But Perseus Jackson provides contradictions and defiance and contrast in his world, and he thinks he loves his wife for such a gift. This time, perhaps, he will have an entire pomegranate taken to be fed to the boy.

**Pairings:** _Hera/Percy_  
**Challenge: Her husband breaks his vows to her over and over. She breaks them only once.**

She is the goddess of marriage. She spouts loyalty all the time, and constantly tries to remind Zeus of his own vows. But he doesn't mind her, and seeks companionship wherever he seeks it. Still, she is loyal. And then there is one time she decides not to be. Her husband breaks his vows to her over and over. She breaks them only once. And Percy is completely worth it.

**Pairings: **_Demeter/Percy_  
**Challenge: When her daughter is with that fiend, he is there listening to her rant about the wrongness of the situation. Even though he likes the fiend, he never turns away when she cries about the loss of her daughter.**

She never grows used to her daughter's absence. She never stops her mourning and grief when her daughter is gone. But she has found someone who doesn't judge her. When her daughter is with that fiend, he is there listening to her rant about the wrongness of the situation. Even though he likes the fiend, he never turns away when she cries about the loss of her daughter. He sits there attentively, and validates her emotions again and again. Even if she knows there is disagreement in him, he doesn't turn away from her. Demeter has never been more grateful for Percy and his surprising kindness, and finds herself more and more dangerously falling over the edge for someone she shouldn't –like her daughter had. And she understands Persephone.

**Pairings: **_Athena/Percy_  
**Challenge: The sins of the father are visited upon him. But there is more to her animosity than grudges. Or –She loves her daughter, but she cannot stand the hold she has over him.**

Athena hates Poseidon. Sometimes she just wants to take his Trident and attack him with it. He has disgraced her temple; he has tried to take Athens from her. And he has born a son who is utterly irresistible. She tries to hate Perseus for his father's faults. But instead, she knows instead she hates him for how he makes her feel. It is unexpected, and something she is not quite comfortable with. Not only does she know her feelings are less than savory and are quite from wise, all of her wisdom is practically out of the window. The sins of the father are visited upon him. But there is more to her animosity than grudges.

Percy Jackson is one of a kind, she knows. In all of her wisdom, she has never quite met someone like him. And her daughter is in love with him. She doesn't quite understand the attraction at first, despite knowing how unique and selfless Perseus is, but then when she starts to she wishes she never had. She starts to find she loves his sea-green eyes more than she hates them on his father's. She discovers that he likes to hum in the shower adorably, and it's quiet and not obnoxious. She knows that he likes to take walks by water because it comforts him, and that he feels happier when he is in the water. And she notices how the water glistens off his body, the bright smile she has heard described fittingly as a miniature sun, and dark hair she wants to run her hands through. She likes blonds, but she definitely cannot deny Percy's gravity-defying hair doesn't pull her in like gravity itself. And then there is one thing she notices above all. She loves her daughter, but she cannot stand the hold she has over him. For Perseus is in love back with her daughter.

**Pairings: **_Aphrodite/Percy_  
**Challenge: She's not used to being jealous. But he's hers and she doesn't want to share.**

Aphrodite loves attention. She loves men. And occasionally, she will dally with another woman. She likes stealing men from other women, and having everyone concentrate on her. She claims fairest, just like that silly little queen from _Snow White_. She doesn't care about the consequences of her just taking, especially men, and she doesn't care about other's emotions as much as you think she would. Or should. But she does love Percy. She's not used to being jealous. But he's hers and she doesn't want to share.

**Pairings: **_Artemis/Percy_  
**Challenge: She's the Huntress of Huntresses. The Maiden Goddess never to lose her chastity. But in her mind, she breaks her vow again and again.**

She's the Huntress of Huntresses. The Maiden Goddess never to lose her chastity. But in her mind, she breaks her vow again and again. Artemis imagines pure white silk sheets, a sheen of sweat between them, and prayers to her that were never meant to be uttered. Not in that way. But he's always gentle and loving and tender. And those sea-green eyes of_ his_ keep her skin heated, her back instinctively arching, and her toes curling deliciously. And so she calls out "Percy!" in the silence of the night, and keeps her shameful thoughts to herself and repeats them to no one –even as she repeats them again and again in her mind. Again and again and again and again…

**Pairings: **_Hestia/Percy_  
**Challenge: The fire burns. Sometimes she gets tired of making it burn. But he lights her with passion and she forgets about that.**

Always tending to the fire. Always keeping it lit. Always making sure it burns. And so the fire burns. Sometimes she gets tired of making it burn. But he lights her with passion and she forgets about that. And another fire is burning, this time inside of her, and it is so much more delectable and sinful. His fingers teasingly drag against her skin, a mischievous grin that speaks of things he could do, and she imagines so much and the fire burns higher and hotter in her. But Percy is not doing so in the way she thinks and wants it to be, but she wants to burn and pretends so she can feel the fire burning her.

**Pairings: **_Persephone/Percy_  
**Challenge: Movie-verse: She wants him. Because she's never had a hero quite like him. Or –He is the only one her husband approves of. Her husband has a soft spot for him. And she is more than content with the fact.**

She wants him. Because she's never had a hero quite like him. Of all the suitors she has taken care to seduce, she is sure no hero that's come to her bed is anything like Percy Jackson. It makes her want him even more. He's shy and confident at the same time. He has a sweet smile, with sinful lips. He has sea-green eyes that pull you in, rather than stern ones like his father's. He has the rough edge that she does love in Hades, but he's also tender. Persephone wants to know every curve and line of that lean body, and she craves that knowledge like she has never done so before. But she can't have him, and he doesn't look her way once. It's unsatisfactory and she resolves to change that soon. Not even little Annabeth can keep him away.

He is the only one her husband approves of. Her husband has a soft spot for _him_. And she is more than content with the fact. She is lonely in the Underworld, though she loves her lord. But sometimes she quietly needs others. But Hades has never let her be with anyone else, like likewise he has been faithful to her –with the exception of two little shrews that she took care of a long time ago. And that Maria. And others he doesn't speak about. But _she's_ never touched another. Until now. But Hades does not roar in fury or coldly lashes back. No, because Percy is his favorite nephew. Hades knows Percy, and knows the boy's morals. And Percy is the only one he'd trust with Persephone. And she is grateful.

**Pairings:**_ BONUS: Any of the above pairings…  
_**Challenge: Being immortal is not as glamorous when he's not. Being divine doesn't make one divine, not in the same way he is. Living in paradise isn't paradise if he's not in it. Because he can make anyone want to be human.**

Being immortal is not as glamorous when he's not. Being divine doesn't make one divine, not in the same way he is. Living in paradise isn't paradise if he's not in it. Because he can make anyone want to be human. Percy is everything and yet supposed to be nothing to them. But he is mortal and it doesn't change the fact that Mount Olympus craves his existence with them. They crave a mortal god. They hear him speak sin, even though his words are innocent. They see temptation, even though his intentions are pure. Every single one of them cannot resist him, and aren't willing to. They want him so much, it's hard to turn away and not be tempted –not be willing to sacrifice everything else for _just one taste_. But they cannot because he is still human, and he wouldn't understand just yet. So they wait for the time when they can finally turn him into a god and keep him with them for eternity.


	3. Olympian: Challenge Words

**Olympian Challenge: Word Prompts**

**Pairings: **_Zeus/Percy_  
**Words: **_Fear or Illicit_

He's afraid of the boy. He's afraid Percy will find out the truth. That Zeus isn't sending him looks of dislike or indifference. That his brother's son will look pass and see that Zeus' gaze lingers a little too long, becomes a little too heated if unchecked, and a little too much longing to be normal. But Zeus cannot hold himself back all the time, and sometimes the desire overcomes the fear. He fears the day when the boy realizes the truth.

Illicit. It describes their whole affair. If his brother _knew_…not to mention Percy was so young. Too young. His normal lovers were older, at least legal. _Never _12. In the olden days, older men took on boys of that age as lovers in the Erastes tradition. But he or the other gods had never partaken the custom. And yet here he was now, partaking in the forbidden, tasting innocent flesh. A boy that he should never have touched, never should have followed after Percy had talked to his brother and deigned to corner the boy, and never should have given the offer to stray in the skies and to repay him for his goodwill in the stolen bolt matter …just for one taste. Zeus knew that Percy should not be taking part in this illicit affair with a god whose carnal desires are never sated, and he hadn't been satisfied with that one taste as he kept coming to the boy again and again. Still Percy says nothing. He is the prophecy child, young and innocent, and his brother's son. There are so many reasons why Zeus should not seek him. But the forbidden has always lured him.

**Pairings: **_Poseidon/Percy_  
**Words: **_Strangers or Forsaken_

Poseidon doesn't know why he chose now, of all times, to linger by the beach in Montauk. It has been years since Kronos had risen, and the war is going steadily. He doesn't know whether he should be glad or sorrowed to find no news of his son. Through the war, he'd blocked out all thoughts of him and his mother, going so far as to even forget his name. It hurts too much. But here he is now, on the very same beach that he had met Sally and had conceived his son. He's still hurting inside, so he gazes out into his sea and wonders about them now. He hears the telltale whisper of feet moving across sand, and he sees a marvelous creature that both causes him intrigue and for some reason pain, as the boy walks calmly across the sands of the beach and gazes up at the sky, a makeshift walking stick held in his hand and trailing behind him and creating a line. From there, he could clearly see sea-green eyes that is so similar and yet not like his own. They're beautiful, he thinks, and finds that he now understands why so many have complimented him on his own eyes now that he's seen a reflection of them on this boy. Almost like he was hypnotized, he walks toward the boy and his new companion is startled and looking at him in surprise. It is not long until they strike up easy conversation and talk about their shared love of the sea. That night, Poseidon takes his first male lover and the boy, Percy, arches into his strong body with a wanton passion that is easily painted on the youth's face. When he has to return to Olympus to prepare for their next strike against the Titans, Zeus asks him where could they find his son and the only real person who could fulfill the prophecy. He learns then, though it is rather an irony that his own brother remembers Poseidon's son's name when none of them have ever met the boy, that his son is named _Percy_. He stiffens at the revelation, but says nothing. And truthfully, he will do nothing. He slept with his son. There is no going around it, and he refuses to shy from the truth. But he won't tell Percy either. He just had him, he doesn't want him taken away. Or worse, for Percy to abandon him as his son no doubt feels Poseidon has abandon him (_never mind that they had sex and that would make it all the worse for Percy if he ever found out_). Yes, he may be acting selfish, but he'd rather have his son in this way than not at all. And he doesn't mind the sweet touch of his son, the feather light brushes of Percy's lips, or the eager mewls escaping him. So yes, again. He'd rather have his lovely son than feel the pain again of Percy's absence. He is more than happy to have Percy in this way. They met as strangers. They will stay strangers. Poseidon will never claim Percy, and he will never tell his son the truth. So long as he can keep Percy with him and have him always.

The sea god should have known all along this was how his son felt. That Poseidon had forsaken him. It was not truth at all, but Percy didn't want to believe it. He put on a good façade, and always looked eager to please his father. But Poseidon knew better. He knew that deep down Percy's loathing for him exceeded even Luke Castellan's hatred for Hermes. So when he kisses his son tenderly on the lips, Percy stays still. And then his son pulls back and brushes his lips against Poseidon's ear in a mocking show of affection, whispering words that stop Poseidon cold. "_I hate you_." Percy moves away and starts walking nonchalantly, as if nothing had transpired between the two, as if he had not just scorned his father and his father's love. And Poseidon knew, he may not have forsaken Percy, but Percy had forsaken him long ago.

**Pairings: **_Hephaestus/Percy_  
**Words: **_Grandiose or Frail_

Hephaestus created magnificent machines. Extravagant and beautiful and so very reliable, unlike people. Grandiose, you could say. That was, until he met him. For once, he found that someone proved to be trustworthy and unswerving. For once, there was something created not of his make, and was much more than any grandiose automatons he chose to mold with his hands. For there was nothing he could create that could match Percy Jackson.

Mortals were always so frail. It was another reason in the list of why he preferred his automatons and various other machines to the company of people. Percy wasn't any different, but sometimes it was quite easy to forget that fact when Hephaestus was around him. And yet, the truth was the truth. Percy _was _frail and so easily breakable. But that just meant he had to work harder to be careful with his fragile package.

**Pairings: **_Ares/Percy_  
**Words: **_Functional or Sanguine_

He wasn't functional these days! He didn't feel really powerful lately either, he was just too distracted. He tried to have sex with Aphrodite, and embarrassingly enough he couldn't get_ it_ up. And instead of mocking him, Aphrodite was at equal turns horrified and irritated that someone wasn't turned on by her or that someone hadn't found _her_ irresistible. And Ares wouldn't admit to anyone that the whole reason why he was messed up was because of that stupid sea brat Percy.

There are many connotations to sanguine. It can refer to the Sanguine temperament. It can allude to someone being hopeful, cheerfully optimistic, and confident. And it's just as well, because Percy can be quite the optimist. But it isn't any of those that is the definition Ares is looking for. Sanguine. Bloody. Of blood. Like the rivulets dripping down Percy's pale skin as the boy's eyes still are lit up with hope –blood that he licks off languidly and watches in fascination as it continues to drip blood-red and saccharine. Sanguine. A boy with hopeful eyes and blood droplets decorating his skin.

**Pairings: **_Apollo/Percy_  
**Words: **_Critical or Foresighted_

"You're always so critical," Apollo complained. But a smile was tugging on his lips anyway. Percy just rolled his eyes and ignored the god, tapping the end of his pencil against his desk and focusing on his college paper. Apollo's smile dropped and he started feeling self-conscious, so strange and unusual a feeling for him. Percy always offered criticism, and always ended up focusing on things other than him. He hated it, because he wasn't used to it. He was a god. He was always right and he was utterly perfect. And he was _always_ the center of attention. Apollo fiddled with his white shirt, oddly pouty and sulky. "But I liked that haiku. It's a huge improvement," Percy commented offhand, not even looking at him. But Apollo was beaming happily. Okay, dating Percy Jackson could be harsh, but it was really, really worth it.

Foresighted. Meaning to foresee. Basically, he guessed. And he _was_ the God of Prophecies. But he didn't see this coming. No, he was completely blinded to this attraction to a boy not even inclined in the slightest to other males. In fact, Percy was very much in love with that Annabeth girl. Damn it all, if only he had seen this ill-fated love to someone who would never feel the same way…but he hadn't. His foresight had failed him utterly, and he could not help himself of his feelings. If only he had seen this before, then maybe he wouldn't be so miserable.

**Pairings: **_Hermes/Percy_  
**Words: **_Anguish or Evasive_

They share in the lost of Luke. Percy confides in Hermes about how much he really cared about his son, and Hermes whispers to him about all the things he wishes he could have done for Luke and all the things he should have done to save his son. Hermes doesn't know, at first, _why_ he was confiding in the boy –who had shown nothing but animosity towards Luke –that is, until Percy spills out his truths first and Hermes finds a kindred soul. They share in their anguish about a lost boy they both cared deeply about. And when everyone else is celebrating, the two mourn, even as Hermes hovers above Percy and presses a firm kiss against the trembling ones of the boy below him. Even as he reverently touches the sweat-slicked skin of the Son of Poseidon, who tentatively pulls the god closer. Even as Percy calls out "Luke!" instead of "Hermes!" And afterwards, they lay on Hermes' bed, clutching at each other until Percy falls into uneasy sleep and Hermes is left thinking. The pain and anguish is still there, but he feels strangely happy and relieved and all from the healing touch of this boy. They are still mourning, but there is hope and he feels that maybe things with get better, especially if Hermes stays with the soft boy in his arms. Of course, Percy might stay hurting more than he and he will have to work on Percy screaming his name instead of his son's…but maybe just maybe, things will work out in the end.

Hermes does not mean to be evasive. He and his children are used to being slippery and elusive, but this time he really doesn't mean to be. It's just that he shouldn't be asking so much from him. He's already begging Percy to save his son…he shouldn't burden the boy with his feelings either. Percy is already torn between the Daughter of Athena and the mortal girl, haunted by the what if of Calypso, and of a war that's counting on him to win. That is not to mention Hermes continually asking him favors or of the annual seasonal life-threatening Quests. Hermes skirts around his feelings as well, and doesn't want to acknowledge them. So in the end, he stays evasive to his emotions, to the situation at hand, and to a boy who wonders why the messenger god is so distant and absent that Hermes won't even look at him or avoids him when he can.

**Pairings: **_Dionysus/Percy_  
**Words: **_Wine or Strawberries_

Wine was always ambrosia to him. Sweet and addicting. He was always a winemaker at heart, more than a god, more than a man. It so echoes the wine he makes now, just as sweet and just as addicting. So special a wine it was. Lips of red wine, skin of white wine. Eyes so green, a wine so unique. Underneath his skilled hands, Percy Jackson is his greatest creation, and no wine after will ever match.

His strawberry fields were off limits. _No one _was allowed in them unless he knew about it. And when he found the intruder, he glared at them so fiercely, he was sure the boy would cower and run away. Instead, Percy's lips quivered and he stared with anxious eyes at Dionysus. "I'm sorry, Mr. D. Strawberries are my favorite. Is there…is there anything I can do for some?" Dionysus snarled and pointed at the nearest exit. "No. Go now." Percy sighed and nodded. Dionysus, though, flinched and watched Percy leave curiously. The next day, Percy was pleased and absolutely happy to find a basket full of freshly picked strawberries in his cabin the next morning.

**Pairings: **_Hades/Percy_  
**Words: **_Lonely or Looking-glass_

Hades was always lonely in the Underworld. Always alone, even when Persephone was there. He hated it. He never belonged anywhere. Not in Olympus, not with pure, loving Persephone, and not in the mortal world. In the Underworld, in his gloomy, lonely abode, did he even remotely fit in. But he was so very lonely. But then Percy comes to him. He visits just because, chatting about inane subjects. At first, Hades is vaguely annoyed. But slowly his loneliness goes away and he anticipates these visits, of a willing boy. And soon, Hades isn't lonely at all. And Percy only smiles back knowingly.

Percy peered into the looking-glass. It was odd. Someone had sent it to him a week ago, without a note from who or why. But it was actually very beautiful. It was of the darkest black, reminding him of the Stygian black metal of Nico's sword. On either side of the looking-glass, ornate vines were engraved from top to bottom of the stands. The base was a solid Roman column laid sideways, tiny cracks embedded in it. The top of the looking-glass had the metal warped into the very images of thorny vines, twisted until the very middle where both ends met and wrapped around a glass rose suspended above the mirror. That and the mirror the only things not of that dark metal that strangely frightened him so. He was not sure why it terrified him, but he didn't linger long on the disturbing but beautiful looking-glass for that very reason. That didn't mean it didn't draw his reluctant attention. His eyes would ever so often be drawn over to it. And one day, he didn't just peer into it, he looked _through_ the looking-glass. And the strangest thing happened. He saw an image of someone on the other side. Again and again, that happened. His fear heightened, but it was nothing more than a vague and hazy image so he didn't dally on that either for long. And then the image became clearer and he saw a teenage boy that only smiled at him. Percy's uncertainty quickly turned to intrigued, and he began talking to the boy about his deepest thoughts, fears, and insecurities. The boy only listened patiently, still with that frozen smile. And then one day, he not only peered through the looking-glass, he touched it and the glass rippled and suddenly he was being drawn through the mirror. And then he was on his hands and knees, gazing in horror at the gathered group in front of him. It was the entire Dark Family –the Lady Hecate off to the side, the twins Hypnos and Thanatos stoically on the other side, Bianca and Nico standing next to the twins, both offering small but welcoming smiles to him, Charon next to Hecate, impeccably dressed as always but wearing a friendly rather than cocky smile towards him, and Queen Persephone giving him a small warm smile. And then there was the teenage boy he kept seeing and confessing to, right in the middle, giving him that frozen smile once more –perhaps even, for the last time. Then the boy started walking forward, aging and then features morphing only slightly…and soon enough, he realized it was Hades all along. "Welcome to your new home, Perseus." Instead, Percy somehow hears, _'You belong to me now,'_ coming out of the Lord of the Dead's lips.

**Pairings: **_Hera/Percy_  
**Words: **_Overzealous or Fragmented_

Was she really overzealous? She hardly thought so. She was just…excessively enthusiastic. She was a bit over the top at times, she'll admit, but she really did mean well. But no one ever thought so. She was always the overzealous, supercilious (Zeus forbid, at least not to Aphrodite's extremes) goddess. But he…for once in her life, she had someone who accepted her the way she was, even the overly obsessive perfectionist and purist that she knew she was. In the end, that was all she could really ask for from Percy Jackson.

After everything, after all she had gone through. After all the women Zeus had slept with. She was fragmented in a way no one can understand. She was so_ tired _of staying loyal, tired of her broken marriage, tired of Zeus and his unscrupulous ways, tired of feeling tired. Percy saw how fragmented she was, and slowly and quietly, he began to pick up the pieces without a word. And he began to piece her back together, with all the patience in the world (patience no one would have ever thought he capable of), and she began to feel whole again. Something she didn't think she ever would and for sure hadn't felt in a long time.

**Pairings: **_Demeter/Percy_  
**Words: **_Besotted or Directionless_

Did her daughter feel like this when she was with Hades? It was exhilarating. She had never before been so…besotted by one. Not that any before had really caught her attention, exempting Zeus who gave her her darling Persephone. But Percy was…more. She was so -_besotted_ was the only word that came to mind and was the only one that could explain her state of being. That's it. Besotted.

She felt directionless. Demeter didn't know where to go, who to turn to about her newfound feelings. That was, if her newfound feelings themselves weren't also a part of why she felt lost. Never the mind, that she just felt like the only direction she could, more like wanted to go to, was in the direction of her beloved –Percy, who loved only dear Annabeth. That was a direction she couldn't possibly head towards, not unless she wanted her heart broken. But it was the only direction she could see in her path.

**Pairings: **_Athena/Percy_  
**Words: **_Potent or Jealousy_

The force of the compulsion Perseus had on her was extremely potent. Dangerously so. He makes her lose wisdom. He makes her want to be wild and free. And compulsive. This hold he has over her is nearly destructive. It has to be, if it makes her lose all sense of herself. Perseus was as potent a drug and poison to her, and deadly as well. And yet she is near helpless to resist and deep down she didn't really want to. In fact, she would admit to herself that she completely refused to defy his unconditional claim over her. And Athena knew that if the potency became any more addicting, she would forget herself and betray her daughter.

This jealousy will be the ruin of her. How could she feel this way? But it was as it was and she was becoming more and more irrational nearly everyday. And she was ashamed to admit it was her daughter that was the cause of her jealousy. Her daughter who smiled at Percy, who smiled back. Her daughter who touched his shoulder, and Percy allowed it. Her daughter –"Athena, why do you insist on calling me Perseus all the time?" _His voice_. She turned to face him coldly. "It is your name, is it not?" But he was smiling at her. "But Percy's more casual, ain't it?" He touched her shoulder, and she let him, relaxing under his touch. "'Ain't' is not a word. You are looking for 'isn't it' as I had formally used." Then Percy lightly brushed his lips against hers and her mind was annoyingly blank for a moment. "Please call me Percy, _Lady Athena_." She shivered and nodded. "And I believe 'ain't' has become a word since it was printed in the new dictionaries," he smirked at her. She laughed, for once in her immortal life. She was jealous, yes, but Percy was with _her_ and she knew her daughter was just as full of jealousy.

**Pairings: **_Aphrodite/Percy_  
**Words: **_Satiated or Idolized_

She's never satisfied, always left wanting. Whenever she is left satisfied for once, it never lasts. She's always, always looking for more, needing something she's not quite sure what it is. And then he comes along, and all of a sudden Aphrodite is completely and utterly satiated. And Percy does it just by a smile.

Aphrodite was used to being idolized. It was practically expected. And yet Percy doesn't idolize her, and she actually finds it a refreshing change. What's more is that she has come to idolize _him_. It is different, and a strange role reversal for her –and yet she finds she doesn't mind at all.

**Pairings: **_Artemis/Percy_  
**Words: **_Possessed or Possessive_

She feels like she's possessed whenever she sees Percy. Artemis must remain chaste, but when he's around she's unlike herself. She acts silly and unintentionally flirty, and she just knows she's been possessed somehow. And then the meaning of the word evolves into something more hideous. It doesn't just feel _like_ it, she _feels_ possessed. Like a mad woman, crazed and like an obsession. He haunts her dreams and her thoughts. Possessed, possessed, possessed. The others whisper it like a curse word, pointing and whispering at her. She doesn't care if it's just her imagination and realistically no one actually knows the extent of how obsessed she's become. She's possessed by the thought, want and need for him. She's utterly possessed by Percy, and for once she's the one caught in a trap.

Oh, it's silly. She's not even allowed to love a man. But Percy wasn't just some man. He was…Percy. So so what if she was possessive? So what if she glared at the other girls he had in his life, disapproved of his actual girlfriend Annabeth? So what if she badgered Thalia for information on the Son of Poseidon? If she didn't like the way Athena spoke halfhearted in protest against the boy, or the way even Hermes was enthusiastic to spend time with Percy? How she hated the way Aphrodite's eagerness to mess with Percy's love life? She wasn't Percy's love, but in her mind she was so possessive that she believed wholeheartedly that Percy was hers.

**Pairings: **_Hestia/Percy_  
**Words: **_Glamorized or Eager_

Hestia was one of the lesser-loved goddesses. It was all about Aphrodite, or Athena, or Hera, or Artemis. Even Demeter was more well known than she, if only because her daughter –who by the way, was one of the other most known Olympian goddesses. The tale of Persephone and Hades was more than well-known and fascinated many. But of Hestia? No, she was not glamorized in a way the others were. No one cared about her, or paid much attention to her. It was how she could get away by sitting by the fire at the demigod camp and no one noticed a difference. It's how she blends so well into the background. Because she was nothing special and she never stood out. But that changed. It changed when Percy noticed her. It changed when Percy paid attention to her. It changed when for once, she was the center of someone's world and all the focus was on her. And it was all because of him.

The experience was all very new to her, so it was understandable that she would be so eager. Mostly, she was eager to please. She wanted to make him as happy as she could, so that he would never leave her. She was so eager because she'd never had someone before, not someone to love her like Percy did. And that made her excited and happy and all sort of happy feelings bubbling up inside of her. And he was just as eager too, relieving her that she wasn't going overboard and being too much.

**Pairings: **_Persephone/Percy_  
**Words: **_Enchanted or Emancipated_

Persephone's absolutely enchanted. She's not sure why, but it's almost like a spell was cast over her the moment she laid eyes on him. Hades only looks at her and he strangely tells her he understands. He doesn't say anything more, but she feels relieved in a way that her feelings and reactions to this boy isn't abnormal and that someone else (even if it is her husband) understands what she's feeling towards Percy Jackson.

She has been confined so long, that just the sight of him frees her. The first time she sees Percy, she has the feeling of being able to break her chains. What love she has for her lord is sincere, but tempered by the confines she is indebted to in the Underworld. She sees Percy, for the first time, and becomes emancipated in a second. And he comes to visit her often, and her husband gives her a sly smile. Her lord is kind and she is free once more. Even if Hades has confined Percy here in the same way she has been, a pomegranate in his mouth that was not as willingly eaten as she had. But soon he will come to find their lord is kind and he will be happy in the Underworld, especially in her company. She will make sure of it.

**Pairings: **_BONUS: Any of the above pairings…  
_**Words: **_Humbled or Idealistic or Hoodwinked or Idiosyncratic_

The gods are humbled by him. They're used to feeling above reproach and superior to all, but Percy Jackson comes in and shakes his head at them all and questions them and their superiority. By no means is Percy condescending, because there isn't a single malicious bone in him, but it's more that he is…sad and critical. Above all, he gazes at them with tired eyes and beseeching stares and asks why. If they don't care about the mortals, if they're so superior to people who try hard to live, then why bother? Why bother ruling over 'stupid, inferior, lesser mortals'? The gods call mortals many stuff and Percy knows each insult and reminds them of each one. But Percy still fights and he bleeds and he sweats and he cries for them, and he will continue to fight this war for these gods he says that doesn't love him but he does love. And the gods are humbled and swear that they do love him.

Percy is very idealistic. He believes in looking to the brighter side, no matter what. He is naïve. His idealism will be his downfall. He's too optimistic, too kind and caring, and too hopeful. The gods see him and know what they have to do. It isn't pleasant or satisfying in any way, but they must do what they must. They don't want to, but they have to. So they will break this boy, take him to Olympus and hurt him to open his eyes and that way he will not be taken advantaged of. Even as they want to kiss and caress him and make it all better, though some of them actually give in and do so. Even as it turns out to be what breaks him more than whatever cruelty in words and hits they bestow upon him, because they love him and he ends up being hurt by that more than anything else.

The gods don't think they've ever been hoodwinked before. They're in downright disbelief because being tricked is not something that happens to them. But that is exactly what happens. Percy joins Kronos, and had been planning to since the beginning and Luke knew all along. The kiss the two share tells a lot. And the gods feel humiliated and betrayed and actually _hurt_ at the duplicity. Because they'd _loved_ Percy and his deception says they hadn't meant anything at all to him. The truth, the trickery, the betrayal…does nothing but make the gods bitter and feel wounded, and they know they will not come out of this whole but irreparably damaged.

The gods knew there was something unique about Percy. He was very different and unusual, and they were quite sure that they'd never met a demigod quite like him. Percy was…idiosyncratic. He was a force all onto himself, different from everyone else, and he stood out. And they couldn't help but _notice __**him**_.

Started 4/19/10 (?) –Completed 5/1/10

**A/n: NO DEADLINES, you'll be happy to note. So these challenges are open for all time! And no set date for anyone to rush and post it up or whatever.**

**That said, I know I promised the Grim Apollo/Percy this weekend, but there's been a HUGE delay in writing it. I had problems getting it started, and also with writing the whole thing out. I had it vaguely planned in my head, but I just couldn't flesh it out until recently. Now I'm in a bit on a roll and hope if I write as fast as I do when I'm on a roll, that it'll be out by tomorrow or Monday. Depending. Fingers crossed!**


	4. Olympian: Challenge Songs

**Olympian Challenge: Song Prompts**

**Pairings: **_Zeus/Percy_  
**Songs: **_Angels by Within Temptation_

"Perseus, please just talk to me."

"Is that an order?" Percy asked bitterly, avoiding looking at the King of the Gods.

"Don't be like that. Please," Zeus pleaded, touching the boy's shoulder lightly in regret.

"You should never have kissed me," Percy said hollowly, finally looking up with haunted eyes.

Zeus flinched, "I'm sorry."

"Is that all?"

"No."

Percy closed his eyes in pain, "What more do you want?"

"The kiss was accident, but I don't regret it," the god said firmly, placing both of his hands onto Percy's shoulders and squeezing desperately, trying to communicate his emotions through the action. "Perseus…we…we don't have to tell anyone. We could keep it a secret. We could keep us a secret…?" a question and wonder of a continuance.

Percy recoiled, "I won't tell anyone. But I'm not starting _anything_ with you."

He turned on his heel and walked away from the god, keeping his head held high and his face blank. That was without the reluctant tears he couldn't help, but refused to acknowledge. In the comforts of his room, he sagged onto his bed and let the tears run more freely, clutching at his head.

"Stupid, stupid idiot. What were you thinking?" Percy muttered to himself.

He remembered all the stories about Zeus, remembered all the warnings he'd heard passed in gossip from other goddesses and nymphs. They all said the same thing. Don't fall for the god. Don't ever.

Besides which, if Hera didn't get you, in the end Zeus would grow tired of you like he had in the past with the others. Moving on and finding someone else to amuse himself with. That's what they'd all said.

Percy was so _stupid_ to let the god kiss him like that. Now he can't get the kiss out of his head, a kiss that was haunting him and still left him breathless just thinking about it.

"Fates, I didn't think you'd be this torn up," Zeus' voice signaled the god had entered his room.

Percy drew into himself.

"Pers –Percy," Zeus gently called out and Percy could feel him kneel in front of him. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for it to be this way. I…I really want something more with you."

"Stop it!" Percy curled more into a ball, clutching his ears.

"Perseus, you look horrible. Zeus, what on earth have you done to the boy?" At Hera's voice, Percy stopped his rocking, freezing instantly. "You told me it was bad, but not how much," she murmured. "Poseidon's going to kill you."

Zeus cringed, "Yeah, I know. Percy, please look at me. At least look at Hera."

Gritting his teeth, Percy unfurled himself and tentatively looked at the Queen of Gods, flinching even though there was a gentle expression on her face.

"T-the kiss meant nothing, Lady Hera. I-it won't go anywhere, I swear," Gods, if his voice cracked one more time, Percy was just going to call it quits and hide under his covers and from the world, regardless of who was there and whatever came up. He couldn't take the humiliation on top of everything else.

She sighed, "I know what you mean, Perseus. Besides, this was stupidity on my husband's part, not yours. Regardless…it doesn't really bother me as much."

Percy frowned, watching her warily.

"Perseus, I'm an easily jealous person. I've taken it out on all of Zeus' other past lovers. But you're…" she glanced at her husband. "You're different. And for once, I feel I must give my blessings to share him, in a way I never thought I'd be willing to. I know my husband loves me, young man….but you're special. There's just something about you that pulls in others like an inescapable gravity. So on his behalf, I ask you to give him a chance."

Percy grimaced. Even Hera…what in the world…?

"Sleep on it, Percy," Zeus interjected soothingly. "I will not push you. I just wish you to know that being with you means more than anything to me. I want it to last."

Percy stayed quiet before he started scooting back on his bed and started to slip under his covers in exhaustion.

"Before I sleep, I want to make some things clear," he said tonelessly. "I hear what all the others say. I remember the stories. I know how you are, despite of what you say to me."

Zeus tensed, having a huge sense of what Percy was talking about. Hera just watched silently, slipping a little more into the background.

"If I even agree to this, you won't cheat on me. And that means you will treat Lady Hera with the same respect and stay faithful to the both of us. If you even slip just the slightest –" Fuck, his voice cracked again. He might as well finish this up. "I won't be like her. I swear on the River Styx, I refuse to stay with you and take that…if you cheated. No offense, Lady Hera, but if you _ever_ cheat, I won't be like her. I will_ leave_ you," Percy pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes at the god.

"Is that a threat?" Zeus asked quietly.

"No, that's a promise," Percy refrained from curling his lip unhappily. "I don't trust you, I don't trust your words, and I don't trust you when you say you want something lasting. I don't trust that I won't be like everyone else, and I'll be left behind and just another person and someone you loved once upon a time. But even if I don't trust you, I can't _forget you_."

Don't, Percy –Crap. Tears. Again.

In an effort to regain _some _dignity, Percy went back to the comforts of his bed and lay on his side, hiding under his covers. To help him adjust to the strange encounter, Hera placed him into a light sleep.

She snorted, "You are so lucky. You were this close to breaking Perseus, and _then_ you'd be dealing with a wrathful Poseidon."

He grumbled to himself and glared reproachfully at her. Then he twitched.

"This is going to cause some problems though."

Hera sighed, "Mm. We'll be stepping on a lot of toes, won't we? Idiot, this is all your fault."

Zeus made a face, "That's Ares, Apollo, Hermes, and maybe even Dionysus after my blood when this all comes out."

"In addition to Poseidon, of course. And probably Hades."

Zeus groaned, "Really, both brothers?"

"Well…if the rumors are true," Hera shrugged. "Either as Hades' favorite nephew or something more. Don't know. Might have to speak with Persephone about it. I'll let you know. It doesn't look good either way though."

The King of Gods hmmed, "And then there's dubious Athena, Artemis, and Aphrodite."

Hera sneered, "Athena's always been a little too overboard with her dislike that it borders on suspicious, Artemis is actually a little obvious about her crush, and Aphrodite's a given."

"So…does that make me a dead man?"

"Yes."

They broke into quiet chuckles at that, breaking the tension a little bit more.

Hera rolled her eyes, "I've never lain with another man but you, and I never will…but at least share his kisses, hm?"

"No way."

She slapped his head.

"Greedy, selfish bastard. Why did I ever marry you?"

**Pairings: **_Poseidon/Percy_  
**Songs: **_Numb by Linkin Park or Sink or Swim by Tyrone Wells or Apologize by One Republic_

He's done everything he could to please him. It's not his fault. Poseidon knows this, but doesn't know how to communicate this to Percy. So Percy continues to try and try to win his favor, when he didn't even need to. It was Poseidon at fault, not him. Percy does as he will, becoming one of the best demigods and becoming a legend in his own right. But it's not enough, it never seems to be.

No matter what he does, Poseidon doesn't say anything and never becomes more present in his life than a shadow. He doesn't even call him son any more.

"Why don't you ever seem proud of me anymore?" the bitterness is clear in his son's voice.

"I _am _proud of you. I will always be proud of you," he murmured, staying still.

"Then why don't you show your favor anymore? Wasn't I your favorite son? Wasn't I good enough? You don't even seem to see me as a son anymore…what have I done to displease you?" Percy trailed off unhappily.

Poseidon winced. "If I showed you favor, I fear I will show you too much. You will always be my favorite and you have been more than good enough. You have been more than I _deserve_. You have done nothing wrong; it is all me. The fact is, Percy, that I _don't_ see you as a son."

Percy flinched but before he could say anything, Poseidon leaned over and plastered his mouth against Percy's, silencing him easily. And then he pulled back slightly, leaning his forehead onto his son's.

"You are not a son to me. I don't want you as a son," Poseidon confessed in a hoarse voice.

Percy stiffened before he jerked away from the sea god, turning and running away.

Poseidon smiled in resignation and a little bit as bitter as his son was –maybe still is.

3

Luke had been everything, he realized. After the last battle, his death had hit him hard and he had said nothing to no one. He kept it all inside, only crying to himself at night. What was he going to do? Admit that the man he hated from the moment Luke had betrayed them all, the very same man that he'd struggled to wrestle Annabeth's feelings from…was the very same man he was actually in love with? How could he admit to that?

So he kept silent and grieved to himself, letting no one know about the truth of his feelings. For a long time after Luke's death, he withdrew into himself and unknowingly began to push everyone away. He was slowly isolating himself, unknowing to his friends' concern and not noticing how he would just drift away and lose them all in his thoughts. And then one day…an odd thought entered his mind.

He didn't _have _to breathe underwater.

Of course, that would be obvious and stupid a thought. But he thought on it some more and another curious thought coincided with it.

Who said he wanted to anyway?

That's why he stared at the water intently, slowly moving into it until inch by inch his entire body was being engulfed by the water. The water, as a Son of Poseidon, was still not affecting him, but with his head the only thing above water he was ready to take the next plunge. So he ducked his head in and waded deeper into the water.

He floated a little, staring around him dispassionately and recognizing how easy it was for him to breathe and move around in the water. Then he started to consciously think of not being able to breathe underwater. After a few moments, he started having trouble. His limbs felt heavier, he was having trouble getting oxygen, and he started to get lightheaded. A morbid grin crossed his lips as he started to black out.

He might get to see Luke sooner after all.

But his dazed mind registered muscular arms wrapping themselves gently but firmly around his waist, and suddenly he was being swum to the surface at a fast pace. He burst through the surface hurriedly, and another pair of arms hauled him away from the water and to the shore. He vaguely saw his father emerging from the waters with a wild and desperate look to his eyes, before he was placed onto the ground and he could see Hermes above him, looking panicked as the god pounded on his chest. He started to choke out a huge amount of water, head clearing, and then Hermes dragged him up.

The messenger god glanced meaningfully at Poseidon, who only nodded tiredly and let him take Percy a little more away. Then Hermes rounded on him.

"What were you _thinking_?"

Percy blinked in exhaustion, "I dunno. I kinda thought I would get to see Luke though…"

Understanding flashed quickly through the god's face before he sighed and ran a weary hand down it.

"Percy. Luke…Luke really did care about you. But this…this is _not_ what he would have wanted," Hermes murmured.

Percy opened his mouth and then shut it. What was he going to say? He wasn't exactly filled with words right now.

Hermes pulled him into a close hug, sighing in sorrow.

"Luke is…_dead_, Percy. He died because he wanted _you_ to live. I know you miss him, Percy, but don't leave the rest of us behind. We're still here too, you know."

Percy grimaced and nodded, trying not to break down into tears that were suddenly full force behind his eyes. A couple of them escaped and he felt Hermes' lips against his forehead in comfort before he was handed off to his father, who held him tightly and murmured reassurances into his ear. Through his blurred sight, Hermes had disappeared and it was just him and his father.

"Percy, look at me, please," Poseidon murmured.

He looked up in resignation, wincing inwardly at the sadness heavily coating his father's face. Soft lips touched his and he blinked in surprise.

"Don't give up. _I'm_ still here."

3

"You're never going to forgive me, are you."

It was a statement not a question.

Percy just looked at him blankly, not giving any other response.

Poseidon winced, hand briefly rising to touch his son's cheek tenderly, feeling him cold and unwelcoming –unlike the passionate heat not even ten minutes ago.

"You walked out on her and me a long time ago," Percy started hollowly. "I thought I reserved the right to do the same to you now."

Percy got up and walked out, the door closing behind him with a final click.

Poseidon just lay back tiredly, draping the sheets a little higher to futilely try to escape the now cold bed.

"Too late for apologies, huh?"

**Pairings: **_Hephaestus/Percy_**_  
_Songs: **_Outside by Staind_

People were ugly. It was how he'd always seen them. It was why he'd always preferred his automatons to people. On the inside…everyone was just ugly.

His wife was the prime example of that. No matter how much beauty Aphrodite possessed, inside she was the most ugliest person alive.

He'd lived by that mantra his entire life, since he'd been born, since Hera had tossed him off the mountain. That is, until he met Perseus Jackson.

It was strange. He wasn't like most people, even at first glance. He had some petty vices of course, but they were hardly nothing more than the usual juvenile tendencies and normal reactions for most people. Most of the time, Perseus exhibited the best qualities of a person, even at the cost of himself.

He'd always known he was ugly. He contented himself with the fact that everyone matched his ugliness with their ugliness inside. But for the first time, he had found someone who stood outside that box. And for the first time, he wanted the company of another person. For the first time…he wanted to be judged worthy of being with someone like that.

He had always been on the outside looking in, looking through people and seeing their true colors and who they really were.

But for the first time, he wished he couldn't…because there was no way he would ever be able to be with someone like Perseus.

**Pairings: **_Ares/Percy  
_**Songs:**_ Bad Romance by Lady Gaga_

This was getting more irritating than it usually was. As usual, Ares went after Percy for a fight. They fight, Percy somehow evades, and the war god has trouble finding the puny demigod. But lately…fighting with Percy had become…unsatisfying. Not that he wanted to stop challenging the boy to a fight, but something in him was craving something else, something more…just _something_.

Like now. He was fighting the other again. After a very pleasing flip and toss that he'd executed perfectly, he found himself on top of Percy and pushing down on him unmercifully. He moved just slightly and…there! A jolt of electricity that surprised him at the contact of their groins, and he licked his lips in satisfaction.

"Let's fuck," he said crudely.

Percy stopped struggling from underneath him, eyes widening up at him in shock and disbelief. In the next moment, Ares was caught off guard when Percy suddenly had a burst of strength and tossed him off him, running blindly away in abandon. The god had trouble finding him for the rest of the day.

Now with different motivations in seeking Percy, he continued to pursue him, amused at the boy's plight and continued persistence in running away. Ares never even got more than a glimpse before Percy would squeak adorably and run away.

But today he was lucky. Percy was calmly running through the beach and he took that opportunity to pop up beside the demigod, easily taking a hold of the waistband of Percy's shorts and dragging the protesting boy behind him as he went towards a flat rock nearby to sit on. Sitting there comfortably, he sat Percy onto his lap and clasped his arms around the captive boy's waist, ensuring he couldn't leave and run away. Plus, it was actually kind of nice holding him like that. He'd never admit that aloud of course.

"So, you wanna go out?" Ares asked bluntly, heading straight to the point.

Percy stared at him, "No! What the hell? What's _wrong_ with you?"

Ares rolled his fiery eyes, "I'm being very serious. 'Sides, after getting over how you were a scrawny brat, you're actually kinda hot. Wanna make out?"

"No!"

"Wanna mutually masturbate?"

"NO!" But Percy turned a very inviting red that fascinated Ares.

"Sure you don't wanna fuck?"

The demigod struck out at his shoulder in embarrassment and mortification.

"Let go of me! And stop acting weird!"

He sighed in exasperation, "Okay. Look. Calm down. I'm genuinely interested, alright?"

Percy stopped squirming (thank Zeus –Ares wasn't sure he could keep himself under control if that kept going on).

"Really? That's just…_weird_. I mean, you were all for beating me up and/or trying to kill me. That's a pretty big leap you're making all of a sudden…I don't get it. Why?"

Ares looked blankly at him, "Is it really that hard to believe?"

Percy gaped at him.

The war god shrugged, "What am I supposed to do? Offer you a sappy declaration? Pepper you with poems and love songs? Sorry, that's Apollo's and Aphrodite's department. I'm just being straight and honest with you. I don't think I even have a reason for this, other than the usual primal instinct and all that."

Percy nodded hesitantly, still not getting it completely.

"I. Honestly. Want. To be. In your. Company. Without antagonizing you," Ares finished sarcastically, having enunciated the whole thing as if he was talking to a child.

Percy turned red again, this time in indignation.

"Jerk."

"Mmhm," Ares waved it off. "Do –"

But Percy had taken his distraction to slip away and run from sight.

"I'm getting just the slightest sick of that."

This time he didn't give up, waiting patiently in the boy's cabin. When he finally appeared, Ares cleared his throat impatiently.

"I want you," the god declared straightforwardly.

Percy stopped and started to stare again, face frozen in confusion and a little disturbed. Then he sighed.

"You wanna make out?" Percy mocked in tired exasperation, resigned in slight irritation and a little intrigued.

Ares grinned, "Now that's more like it!"

**Pairings:**_ Apollo/Percy  
_**Songs:** _Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen_

Apollo idly watched him. The song playing in the background was definitely Percy's theme, most specifically when connected to the god. Really, with the glistening water trailing down his body, Apollo's favored sun shining down on the demigod and almost making him glittering…

He whistled at the other, "Hey, Percy! Edward Cullen's got nothing on you!"

The boy just turned and stared at him incredulously, scrunching up his eyebrows in confusion. Apollo just grinned back and went back to admiring the view silently.

'Course, kidnapping Percy Jackson for a nice outing in the sea was nothing short of a miracle (he's still surprised Uncle Poseidon hadn't tried to drown him yet), and the fact he'd transformed his ride from the usual Maserati to a yacht was different (he hadn't been sure it could do that), and he was having a grand old day. Percy finally relenting and wearing the clinging swimming trunks (and actually listening to Apollo about no powers that day) was the topping on his cake. Because Apollo really was eating and keeping his cake like the selfish bastard he was.

He chuckled to himself. This was the best day of his life. Everything was going along nearly perfectly…

"Shit!" his companion cursed, too much water soaked into the shorts and weighed them down too much, causing them to uselessly slide down toned legs and fall to Percy's feet.

A cute bum and young cock.

"Hallelujah~" the sun god sang happily, a Cheshire grin flitting onto his face.

He straightened up from his lazy viewing position, finally motivated to do something other than laze about (and watch Percy).

_Now_ things were perfect.

**Pairings:**_ Hermes/Percy  
_**Songs:** _She Will Be Loved by Maroon 5_

Percy was eighteen now. He was older and more confident. Hermes even heard he had been Prom King. He was still as handsome as ever, and it was a wonder why Annabeth had decided to leave him.

But if you watched him closely or knew him as much as Hermes did, you would see that Percy was just as troubled as he was two years ago, when Kronos was once again defeated.

And Hermes…Hermes was always there to help him, always there to offer a hand, a shoulder, an ear…But in the end, Percy would never be his. Wouldn't be anyone's. The others could make the argument that he'd belonged to Annabeth once upon a time, but he knew differently. Percy had always belonged to Luke and always would be.

Hermes would travel miles upon miles around the world, around Olympus, and somehow always end up in front of Percy's door. He would watch as Percy sat on his bed, staring out the window longingly. He would then move to lie down next to the demigod quietly and nimble fingers would tentatively play with his hair. They spend hours just like that, and every once in awhile when it becomes really bad, in the cover of the night, underneath threadbare sheets and quiet air, they would slip and slide against each other, sweat clinging to two bodies clutching tightly to each other. Percy's breadth mingles with his, the fingers that play with his hair are digging into his back, and he ignores the unseeing eyes and the whispered name that doesn't belong to him.

He never showed that it bothers him and Percy never mentions it anyways.

They've been together so many times and the problems about it are never breached. But Hermes is tired of this relationship, even if he isn't tired of Percy. He'll never tire of him, he thinks.

But he wanted more than this. He wanted all of Percy.

He doesn't mind waiting forever for him, he supposed. He hated the broken smile sent his way and the fake one for everyone else, and that real smiles are reserved for a scarred blond boy in a picture frame with a huge crack running down the glass. And he always gets the urge to ask Percy if he wanted to stay with Hermes. He never specifies how long in his mind.

He doesn't know how he'd become the fall guy, the man Percy falls back on when things become too bad. He doesn't even know how Percy knows where he lives, desperately going to the Empire State building, waiting in an elevator, traveling through all of Olympus just to tap on his window. But now that Percy's taken up with that, that he's comfortable enough seeking Hermes out like that, made Hermes a lot happier. Percy wasn't just noticing him, he was noticing _him_.

Confident and cool Hermes had taken a backseat all these years in favor of Percy and making him feel better, and he'd become a little insecure because of it, but that didn't matter anymore –this was a turn. Things were subtly changing.

As things changed and time passed, Percy wasn't looking passed him anymore and Hermes wasn't just a figure in his life. Things weren't always alright with them, but things were better. A lot of compromises had to be made. Percy had to spend time with Hermes, just go out with him to places and stop holing himself up and losing himself in the past. Hermes had to give Percy space when he needed it, let him have those grieving moments for Luke when they came up and not push him.

And this, all this slow moving, this slow progress was worth it. His heart was waiting and he kept his door open just for him. And when Percy was finally ready, things would be a lot brighter and he could finally come out and say how much he loved him.

**Pairings:**_ Dionysus/Percy  
_**Songs:** _Waking Up in Vegas by Katy Perry_

His 21st birthday wasn't such a big deal. He didn't know why the gods insisted on celebrating it so thoroughly, but as it was they had a big bash on Olympus and then the three bachelor gods (plus Dionysus as _the_ party god) dragged him out to Vegas to have what they'd called a real party, seeing as they had Olympus parties all the time and those got boring after awhile. At least, according to them.

Percy sighed and rolled his eyes.

After all the gambling, drinking, dancing, drinking, partying, and even more drinking, they were currently still trying to get him drunk. But a trick he'd learned from Triton let him be sober long after the other gods were out of it. Manipulating the proponents of liquor was very handy in making them diluted and not as potent…

"This is so not fair, you little brat," Ares grinned disturbingly, his lips pulled back across his teeth and looking more like a snarl.

"It's 'cause he's Barnacle Beard's brat," Dionysus said in a bored tone. And yet, he still made another drink appear, sliding it to the birthday man.

"Now, now, men. No taking the mickey out of Percy. It's his birthday; he gets privileges," but the mischievous glint in Hermes' eyes made Percy cautious.

"Been to England lately, eh?" Apollo sniggered, knocking over his drink.

Percy rolled his eyes again, "Remind me. Why are we in a strip club again?"

"Percy, Percy! You're a man now!" Apollo shouted, scrambling over the table and getting into Percy's face. "It's time to get laid. I know Annabeth was your one and only and all, but she's one woman! Time to move on, see the sights, fish for a new fisssshhh!"

"I'm gay," Percy deadpanned.

The others froze and blinked at him stupidly.

"What?" Apollo asked shocked.

"I like guys," Percy snorted. "After Annabeth, I decided I preferred the company of men."

It was silent for a moment before the others burst into laughter.

"Oh, wait until I tease Athena about this. Her kid turned Percy gay!" Apollo kept laughing, falling off his seat and onto the ground with a thud. He still kept laughing.

Hermes hmmed when he was done, eyes turning even more mischievous than they were, if that was even possible.

"You should've just said so," Hermes purred, suddenly very close to Percy.

Percy gulped.

The others stopped laughing as well, looking at him in growing interests as they all slowly started to smirk. Even Dionysus was looking at him speculatively.

He sweatdropped, "Uhhh…I'm not going to be spending the rest of my birthday running away from you all…am I?"

"Mwahaha, chasing hot looking folks like yourself is always a great pastime for us gods!" Apollo chortled.

Hermes smacked him upside the head, starting the 'we do not!' argument between the gods.

In the meantime, Percy had taken their distraction to run away and disappear into the city. After what he'd thought was a good enough distance, he slowed down and sighed.

"Perry Johnson."

He jumped and whirled to face Dionysus, who smirked at him from the bar door he was leaning against.

"Uh…Mr. D," he winced.

"Relax, I'm not going to drag you back. But I'm not done with you."

Percy blinked, "What?"

Dionysus' eyes glinted troublingly and the smirk was no less bothersome.

"_I_ am the god of wine and all things lovingly liquor. You not getting drunk is an insult to my gifts. I _will_ get you drunk, Perseus," by now, his smirk had turned shark-like. "I will not fail and I will not give up," the god stated stubbornly.

He opened the door he was leaning against and raised his eyebrows at Percy. Percy sighed and dragged his feet through it, Dionysus following him after.

The next morning, he woke up with a large headache and decisively very cold. Looking down, he blankly realized he was naked. Then he looked to his side and saw Dionysus lazily sipping on another alcoholic drink and watching him in amusement.

He gaped and the god raised his left hand, where a gold ring rested on a certain finger.

"Well…you got drunk finally…but we also got married," he said unfazed.

Percy twitched. If Ariadne started calling him sister-wife…

"And no divorce in Olympus, so it's final. Hera's kind of a bitch about it."

Percy never did care for celebrating his birthday.

**Pairings:**_ Hades/Percy  
_**Songs:** _Paint It Black by The Rolling Stones_

The soft strokes were deliberate and careful. His hand was steady, holding the brush above the boy. Black ink didn't drip onto marble skin, but the characters already painted onto the canvas of skin were stark and bold. Black on white masterpiece of linking spells that claimed Percy Jackson to him.

Percy was silent, breathing steadily and barely awake, but unable to move and be fully aware. The anesthetic he'd use was stolen from Apollo's own concoctions, so much more assessable to him as a god than getting a hold of a common one in a hospital full of humans. It was more potent as well, used for other gods, and as only a demigod Percy had no chance against it. Therefore, the boy was paralyzed under his care for the time being, until it wore off and not before Hades was done with his work.

He continued painting spells of love on the skin of Percy's entire body, marking every inch. Hecate was under his employ after all, part of the Dark Family and willing to help him now that she wasn't busy pitching a fit about not having a cabin and whatnot. And Percy was his for the taking, each stroke of the brush and each ink-splattered character painted with care telling the story of belonging and possession.

He wrote his name cautiously on the boy's back, as his claim on him. Then he began to paint the Ancient Greek of Percy's name onto the boy's front. Names had power, after all. Those were two of the most important steps.

His name to represent his claim on the boy and assert his ownership, and the boy's because when done correctly and used in such a way…when you know a person's true name, you can use it to bend them to your will.

Like making them love you back.

The last stroke done, he set down the brush and sat quietly –waiting for the glaring black ink to dry and be complete, eventually fading away into invisibility and known to be there by only he and Percy himself. He invoked Percy's name and soon he'll have power and dominion over him.

A finger vigilantly traced painted letters in amusement, black ink barely staining his finger but not smudging his work of art.

"Perseus," he purred.

Soon, he thought. Soon.

**Pairings**_: Hera/Percy  
_**Songs:** _Lips of Angel by Hinder_

Hera didn't know how she got into the habit of calling on him in times like this, but whenever she argued or got angry with Zeus he just seemed to be the one she went to. He always listened and never offered advice or just stared at her. He heard her, heard about how she felt, and confirmed her feelings. He knew she didn't really want advice and she didn't want someone who looked like they were listening but she couldn't be sure they were. So he listened carefully and empathized about how she felt, knowing that she just wanted someone to know how she felt and to understand. To hear her feelings and offer no judgment, either in favor or against.

Just for her feelings to be heard.

She dreamt about him once and unthinkingly told him so. She was embarrassed, but he just laughed and said he dreamt about her too. Whether or not he was just saying so to make her feel better, she didn't ask and just accepted it.

And when he kissed her and teasingly asked her how her lips could be so angelic, she just looked away in embarrassment and had the fleeting thought that his were the ones that were angelic. She immediately banished those thoughts, even now refusing to stray from Zeus, and kept thoughts of how he was just teasing her like usual.

He was just trying to make her feel better, that's all.

**Pairings:**_ Demeter/Percy  
_**Songs**: _Hey There Delilah by Plain White T's_

The war has taken a lot out of him and after it he just wants peace. He finishes his schooling quietly, but he doesn't stay in the city and he doesn't go looking out for a job or adventure. She finds him living a quiet life and enjoying being free without worry. He's living a life no one would expect him to, working as a farmer in an isolated area in the countryside. It's small, but he is just one person working and it's enough for him. She keeps him company, silent in observation and letting him be, just as he'd wanted.

Just a quiet, quiet life.

Time passes and she keeps visiting, intrigued at the lifestyle he'd chosen for himself. His little farm is thriving and she plants a little garden for him. A smile twitches at his lips and she visits every day now. She's happy too, for some reason. She enjoys sharing in the little peace he's made for himself, the quiet life suiting her. She helps his crops grow, watches him milk cows in fascination, and soon she somehow has her own room in his small home now.

It's not like she's neglecting her duties, she tells herself and others. It's just that her duties don't require her to be in a certain place, so she can just perform them just fine at his home…their home…without any trouble. And if she uses her power to help him out especially, well she doesn't see a problem in it.

He bakes an apple pie from the apples she picked that day and flat bread from the wheat she helped cultivate into fruition that week.

She echoes the content smile on his face with her own and thinks she could be happy with this life.

**Pairings: **_Athena/Percy  
_**Songs: **_Please Don't Leave Me by Pink_

He's sitting at the table at night as usual, quietly pushing around his food. She rolls her eyes and snorts.

"You know, you should actually try to make yourself useful or do something other than waste your time away," she scowls at him.

He just looks up and gives her a tired smile, obvious circles under his eyes.

"How was your day? Not too bad, I hope. Wanna eat dinner with me?"

She scoffs, "It's 'want to,' dimwit. And no, I'm not hungry. I'm going to be in my study."

She brushes by him without another glance or word, and she ignores how his smile drops and he hangs his head, shoulders slumping. She feels something uncomfortable shoot through her, but she ignores the feeling and she ignores how it's the twelfth night he's stayed up waiting for her.

She frequently calls him names, and Athena will admit that she goes too far with them. In fact, it's uncalled for, this treatment. She couldn't help it; she just tended to insult him instinctively.

"You're such a stupid Seaweed Brain!" she yells in frustration when he accidentally trips and one of her favorite vases breaks.

She calls him that a lot, but unlike her daughter it's not in fondness.

He just smiles enduringly, like always, and gets on his hands and knees as he starts picking up the broken pieces. The next day, she sees the broken vase has been put back together as best as it could be, although not completely whole but still nearly perfect. He must have spent all night, stayed up just to put it back together for her.

Athena throws it away.

She knows the other goddesses disapprove of how she treats him and how ungrateful she is. How they would have preferred to have him all to themselves. Even the other gods say the same thing, only they're less vocal about it and it just shows more in their eyes. How they all would have loved to have the Hero of Olympus with them instead. How they all want him for themselves.

And she knows how many of them have tried –and failed.

She doesn't know why she's this obnoxious to him, to the point of being nasty. She just innately treats him cruelly and horribly, and she just can't control herself. It's so disgusting, the way she is with him, that's it nearly unbearable to remember and look back on each and every time. She doesn't understand why she acts like this, but he just takes it without a word of complaint. And she doesn't understand that either.

Athena is terrified when she sees Aphrodite set her eyes on him, but it's not a surprise. Because the goddess of love has always set her eyes on him; Athena is just surprised and shocked that the other goddess is finally deciding to make a move.

"_Better me than you, hm? At least I will not treat him as horribly as you do."_

Athena is absolutely terrified.

She doesn't know why she treats him this way, she really doesn't. And she will admit in her mind that she does treat him horribly and that she _shouldn't_ be so horrible to him. And in her mind, she will admit to the terror of losing him to the other goddess, or anyone else –even her own daughter.

She sees Aphrodite kissing him and runs away from the sight.

He's in her home when she finally comes back, waiting for her as usual, playing with his food unhappily at the table. He looks exhausted and miserable, and there are remnants of tear tracks that she didn't want to comment on.

She hesitantly walks over to him and he lifts his head up in surprise at her. Her mouth opens and her eyes tear up, but she doesn't know what to say. Her lips open and close for a couple times, but nothing comes out. She settles for kneeling in between his legs and leaning against him tentatively, closing her eyes as she places her forehead against his and reluctantly sheds a couple tears.

"You know…I don't tell you this enough…I forget to…but you are incredibly beautiful to me," she murmurs, lifting her hands up to grasp his head between them blindly. "I'm so, so sorry, Perseus. _Please_."

'_I'm sorry. Please don't leave me.'_

He's still quiet.

**Pairings: **_Aphrodite/Percy  
_**Songs:**_ Mr. Brightside by The Killers_

She'd always been free with her affection, especially with any and every man. It didn't bother her, and she didn't care if it bothered anyone else. She was the goddess of love and in her opinion she wasn't to be tied down to one person. She was wild and wouldn't be caged, and she liked being carefree. She was greedy with her true affections, never meaning more than toying amusements. They loved her, she didn't love them. Loving them would mean they were special and she would be tied down, just like what she hadn't wanted. She wanted it all, wanted _them_ all.

And then she decided to kiss_ him_.

It was just a kiss, one kiss that shouldn't have meant anything. It was only a kiss, she kept telling herself. So why was she feeling so differently about it?

She fell asleep, feeling troubled about it. What she had next was more like a nightmare than any dream of love she could conjure up. With how she was feeling now, she didn't want anything to do with the dream, much less see it.

_Annabeth got out of the cab, starting her trek to camp. She quickly found Percy behind his cabin, whole body shaking as he lifted a cigarette to his mouth._

"_Percy?" she tentatively called out._

"_Annabeth," he grimaced, holding up a hand in greeting, mouth around the cigarette clenching as he took a drag._

"_I hate it when you smoke," she sighed, but smiled sadly as she took the cigarette from him and took a drag of her own._

"_Helps the attacks. You know I get them a lot after the war," he took it from her and threw it to the ground, stepping on it and putting it out._

"_Let's go to bed," she murmured, touching his chest gently._

_They were barely through the door when his hand was slowly slipping one of the straps of her dress off her shoulder._

_Aphrodite felt sick to her stomach and she refused to watch this, so she forced herself out._

When she woke up, she was in an even more worse mood than she had been before she'd gone to sleep with the epiphany that she was in love with Percy Jackson. And that her nightmare wasn't real, just something her mind made up in the throes of her jealousy of a couple she had originally rooted for. In her jealousy, she had made up a scenario where the two could be together, imagining it was real and knowing it was all really just in her head.

Because the two never got together.

After the battle on Olympus, the two kept dancing around each other, but they never officially became a couple. And if Aphrodite had her way, they never would. She was so used to making other men jealous of each other over her, thrived on it actually, but now that she was the jealous one…She made patient men into animals in their jealousy, had a plethora of sweet nothings to whisper and entice, and a baggage of alibis that she used to placate animalistic Ares, soothe possessive Apollo, calm unpredictable Hermes, and all sorts of other men –pulled them to her and make them keep coming. Even as those three find someone else to amuse them, they always came back…

_Funny how the very boy she wants, really wants, they want too. Love, love, love –why are you so complicated and fucked up?_

But now her alibis and lies are coming back to haunt her, she knows it. This is all karma. All her meddling in love, and now she was in love with a boy who she was destined to watch get together with a girl in a relationship she had helped to slowly bring about. It was the price she had to pay, and now all she could do was keep watching in hope that sooner or later he would come to her like all the others.

But he was not like all the others, and for once she was stuck as the jealous one.

**Pairings:**_ Artemis/Percy  
_**Songs:** _Make Me Bad by Korn_

"Oh, you're so innocent, Artemis!" Aphrodite laughed. "Aren't you so adorable?"

Artemis stared at her blankly, her face without emotion. Apollo rolled his eyes at Aphrodite's antics, lying what was supposed to be a calming hand on his sister's shoulder.

"Forget her, Arty. She's just making fun of you as usual. Just ignore her."

But then Artemis started to smile slowly…and then laughed.

"Actually, it's okay, Apollo. I _am_ a little amused," Artemis' lips twitched. She turned on her heel and began walking away, leaving the group she'd left behind confused and shocked. "Innocent, huh?" She spoke to herself. She laughed again, softer this time.

_It was __**her**__ little secret, and it'll stay that way._

"_**Percy, please!" she shouted, sweat dripping down her skin. Her legs wrapped around his waist a little tighter. His rhythm became faster and one particular thrust had her arching up into his lightly muscled body. "Percy!"**_

"_**Artemis," he breathed out, eyes glazed as his lips touched just under her ear and slid across the length of her jaw.**_

'_**Pleasepleasepleaseplease –!'**_

"I guess you just make me bad, don't you, Percy?" she murmured.

Innocent, indeed…

**Pairings:**_ Hestia/Percy  
_**Songs: **_Uprising by the Muse_

Little Hestia, the goddess no one notices. The one no one remembers. The one always out of sight, out of mind. Hestia, the goddess that everyone ignores.

Well, she's laughing now.

With strong hands sliding up her plaid short skirt, her slender legs on either side of his –oh, she's laughing. Her lips catches his, Pandora's box hidden as she takes off her tie, gets rid of the knee-high socks, sways around him and smiles seductively as she dances full of mirth towards him, on top of him, _underneath_ him.

The little forgotten goddess isn't being forgotten now, is she? Especially not by the very boy the others seek the attention of, whose sole attention is on _her_.

She's got the last laugh now, hasn't she.

**Pairings:**_ Persephone/Percy  
_**Songs:** _Stairway to Heaven by Led Zepplin_

"What love can be, I don't know. I love Hades, but I find myself seeing Heaven in the eyes of a boy." Persephone sighed, her gaze drifting upwards. "If Hades is my darkness, then Perseus is my light. And if Hades my hill of descent, then Perseus is my stairway to heaven."

"Heaven and Hell in two men," Hestia murmured. "But would you choose to seek heaven or exist in the hell of your making?"

"Choose, dear Hestia?" Persephone's lips twitched in vague amusement. "To choose is to die in silent torment. They're a balance. And together we are harmony."

**Pairings:**_ BONUS: Any of the above pairings…  
_**Songs:** _One Night Stand by Hinder_

"What am I? The Olympian bicycle?" Percy complained to Annabeth. "Zeus, it's like they don't have anything better to do than to bother me."

The Daughter of Athena giggled, "Percy, you have to face it. They want you and they're never going to let you go."

"Fuck."

She outright laughed this time, patting his back. "Good luck, Seaweed Brain. Just don't actually go with any of them," she warned. "Gods are gods. Fickle and unfaithful. Infidelity runs rampart with them, and they tend to find new toys quickly. Just wait it out, and they'll stop obsessing over you."

Percy pouted in response, but agreed. He headed over to his cabin, trekking tiredly into it, only to find Hermes nonchalantly sitting on his bed and apparently waiting for him.

"Hermes, what are you doing here?" he asked bluntly.

"I have an important delivery to make," the god answered straightforwardly. But Hermes came closer and started tying a silky ribbon into a bow around his neck, and then all of a sudden he felt weird and closed his eyes instinctively. Next thing he knew, he opened his eyes to see the familiar sights of Olympus.

"Wha –hey! What am I doing on Olympus?"

"You're here because we thought it was harder to get to you down there than if you were here," Hermes answered him factually.

Percy's blood boiled and he clenched his jaw, feeling incredibly incensed and wronged just then. He tugged the ribbon violently off his neck and threw it at the surprised god.

"No thanks. I don't do one night stands," then he turned on his heel and stomped away, not even knowing where he was headed.

He thanked whoever he could that Hermes seemed like he chose not to follow him, and instead realized he'd ended up in the Olympian Fields.

"That wasn't nice, running off on me."

Percy hissed in irritation under his breath, and he looked up to see that not only was Hermes there, but Apollo and Athena. Apollo had a big, teasing grin on his face and Athena look unfazed as always, though there was an odd hint of worry in her eyes.

"And what one night stand do you speak of?" Hermes asked softly, continuing and bringing Percy's attention back to him.

The demigod barely refrained from full out sneering.

"Don't you guys have better things to do than harass me? Besides that, it's like I said. Never mind how everyone keeps warning me how fickle and unfaithful all of you are supposed to be, everywhere I turn I get propositioned by one of you –and I said no! I don't want to just sleep with you for a night! And if you don't mind, I'm going to go home. I'll wait this all out and all of you will stop obsessing over me, just like I was told!"

Percy tried to move around them, but all three stood firm in a line and refused to let him pass.

"Hey now, that's more Zeus' rep, if you ask me," Apollo winked. Percy just glared and his grin started to falter. Athena interfered, smacking Apollo's shoulder harshly.

"Perseus, I know you are aggrieved right now, but don't judge too harshly or too quickly. Your worries are sound, I give you that, but untrue towards you. We are fickle, yes. And the men have a history of disloyalty. And yes, we pass on easily to a new lover. But we. Don't. Want. A one night stand. With. _You_. That is not what we've been aiming to achieve with you."

Percy still looked wary, but confusion started to erode that. So Athena moved forward and grasped his head firmly in her hands, leaning forward and kissing him with a gentleness that he hadn't known she was capable of. Afterwards, she moved away and started to back up to line up with the others again, all three looking expectantly at him.

He groaned, "Damn it. I _told_ Annabeth I wouldn't go with any one of you, that I wouldn't do this. I told her that I wasn't going to give in to any god and here I am –with three of them in front of me! And I'm going to look like such an _idiot_ when you jerks dump me in a couple of days, and everyone's going to say I told you so!"

"No amount of waiting is going to work this time," Hermes smiled apologetically. "And don't be so quick to assume we're going to dump you, especially that quick. Don't listen to all of them. You're not just going to be discarded so easily, Percy. All twelve of us know that you're special and there's no way we can just let go."

"All twelve of you?" Percy asked weakly.

"Fourteen if you count Hades and Hestia," Apollo added helpfully.

He flinched.

Hermes moved to his right side, leaning on him as he draped himself around Percy's arm.

"You're not a one night stand," he murmured.

Apollo went to Percy's other side, draping himself around the other arm.

"We're not willing to let you go, nor are we going let you be like any other lover. You are promised to never be just thrown away so easily. You mean more than that," the sun god was brutally honest.

Athena slowly walked up to him, arms hesitantly wrapping around Percy's neck as she towered over the shorter male, and as she placed her forehead against his.

"And say what you will…but you can't wait out our 'obsession' with you. What we feel for you will not fade away, probably not ever. It is best if you just accepted it."

To what they said, Percy only twitched and exclaimed one thing.

"But being _shared_? _By all of you?_"

Hermes snickered. "Percy, you really _are _the Olympian bicycle."

Started 5/15/10 –Completed 10/26/10

A/n: Well, I really liked a lot of those long ass drabbles. I might turn some of them into one-shots or full fics one of these days. Anyways, I left the Athena one open-ended, just so you know. And I was thinking of Hestia in a schoolgirl outfit, like she'd cornered Percy at school or something. And the third Poseidon one was just short and sweet…in a cold way.

Sometime soon, I'm going to post up the next challenge I have in mind (after I get it typed up). The Olympian Challenge will still be open, so don't worry about that. The timed summaries I made for the Tagged! thing I was in will be there too. I'm currently working on the next _Conquest of Paradise_ and_ The Light Before We Land_, though I might work harder on 'Light' because it's been nominated for the Veritas Award, and like with _The Day The Whole World Went Away_, I want to at least finish LT arc so that there's something worth to read for consideration (shrugs).


	5. Unloved Demigods: Greek Edition

**Unloved Demigods Challenge (Greek Edition)**

**Pairings: **Michael Yew (Son of Apollo)/Percy  
**Holiday Desserts Prompts:** Oreo Truffles

**Pairings: **Malcolm (Son of Athena)/Percy_  
_**Holiday Desserts Prompts: **Peppermint Brownie Pie

**Pairings: **Castor and/or Pollox (Sons of Dionysus)/Percy_  
_**Holiday Desserts Prompts: **Poppy Seed Torte

**Pairings: **Charles Beckendorf (Son of Hephaestus)/Percy_  
_**Holiday Desserts Prompts: **Caramel Heavenlies

**Pairings: **Chris Rodriguez (Son of Hermes)/Percy_  
_**Holiday Desserts Prompts: **Sticky Toffee Pudding

**Pairings: **Clarisse La Rue (Daughter of Ares)/Percy_  
_**Holiday Desserts Prompts: **Rugalach

**Pairings: **Katie Gardner (Daughter of Demeter)/Percy_  
_**Holiday Desserts Prompts:** Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes

**Pairings: **Lee Fletcher (Son of Apollo)/Percy_  
_**Holiday Desserts Prompts:**Ginger-Cinnamon Apple Crisp

**Pairings: **Mark and/or Sherman (Sons of Ares)/Percy_  
_**Holiday Desserts Prompts:** Pistachio Cranberry Icebox Cookies

**Pairings: **Ethan Nakamura (Son of Nemesis)/Percy_  
_**Holiday Desserts Prompts:** Double Chocolate-Espresso Truffle Pie

**Pairings: **Silena Beauregard (Daughter of Aphrodite)/Percy_  
_**Holiday Desserts Prompts:** Russian Crème Custard

**Pairings: **Will Solace (Son of Apollo)/Percy_  
_**Holiday Desserts Prompts:** Fabulous Red Velvet Cake

**Pairings: **Stoll Brothers (Both/or) (Sons of Hermes)xPercy_  
_**Holiday Desserts Prompts:** Three Creamy Cheesecakes

**Pairings: **Bianca di Angelo (Daughter of Hades)/Percy_  
_**Holiday Desserts Prompts:** Fudge (Classic or Festive)

You can choose **any **of the prompts, and **more than one **if you want. Just **PM me **which **pairing and which challenge/prompt you want to do,** and then start writing! There's no deadlines. **PM me the links to your finished fics.**

SPREAD THE WORD!

A/n: Posted here so more people can see it and so people can see the challenge and understand my drabble examples when I put them up after. So no reporting (just in case) please.

This is the Greek edition version, with a Roman and a Historical one coming up after this. However, this only covers demigods from the original series (I'll probably include another one with demigods from Heroes of Olympus later on). Nico, Annabeth, Thalia or Luke aren't included because they are the ones usually paired with Percy. This challenge is for the demigods that usually or rarely are (hence 'unloved').

Again, I will include my drabbles/examples for the next chapter.


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